At the present time, there is an increasing interest in home brewing. Many people are brewing a variety of alcoholic beverages, such as beer and wine, in their own homes. However, successful brewing requires proper equipment, which must be kept extremely clean. During the actual fermentation process, it is necessary to contain the liquid in a clean environment, whilst excluding the surrounding air. At the present time, this is typically achieved by providing a glass vessel that is closed with a rubber bung. The bung includes an aperture, in which an air lock is fitted. The air lock includes a U-shape duct, which is filled with water, to form the air lock.
Such an arrangement has numerous disadvantages. It requires the assembly of a number of separate components. Consequently, each component has to be manufactured separately. Also, as the bung and air lock are separate, for the user they represent separate items which have to be cleaned, stored etc.
A further disadvantage of known domestic brewing techniques is that they require the liquid to be fermented in a first vessel, and then transferred to a second vessel. One reason for this is to separate sediment generated during the initial fermentation. Then, a second fermentation is carried out in the second vessel. Frequently, it is then necessary to transfer the fermented liquid from the second vessel into bottles. It is to be appreciated that this requires numerous individual steps, all of which must be carried out with carefully cleaned equipment, to prevent growth of unwanted organisms etc. Also, conventionally much of the equipment used is in the form of simple containers, without taps etc. As a result, the transference of liquid from one vessel to another has to be carried out by siphoning the liquid from one vessel to the other.